She'd just found the perfect location to leave a little message. A dead snag far back from the border, but certainly close enough that one of them would walk by it. She did not want to be close to the borders. It would increase the odds of running into one of them and she distinctly did not want that to happen. She'd be scot-free as long as she wasn't discovered here. Quickly she squatted to mark it. She would protest their presence here for as long as possible.

As she rose to her full height a quiet noise reached her and she froze. Her belly brushed low against the ground as she slunk out of the berry canes. She was almost there when a voice called. She cringed into a pause and her lips pulled back into a snarl. Dammit! She'd been found. Slinking away to avoid this wolf would do no good. They knew who she was and where to find her. In her agitation the neutral tone of the other had been missed. Her tail flicked up in the fine rain, she would not face this wolf cowering in submission. She had done wrong, but not by them. They deserved no respect from her. Stiffly she pushed through the canes to find Laurel.

In the quiet drizzle she regarded Laurel stoically, not shying away from meeting those gray eyes. The young woman's features were familiar to Iopah, a fellow Great Plains wolf, but she'd not seen her in this area before. Iopah's nostrils flared, head lifted proudly then tilted in concentration. Could this simply be a lone wolf with bad timing?

"You a blackberry thorn wolf?" She asked gruffly still not quite believing her good fortune. The leaves still attached to her pelt did little to reduce the imposing figure she must make. With her tail raised and the lines of her face tense, she waited.

Despite her track record, Iopah rarely tried to come across as gruff. It just worked out that way. Directness was interpreted as bluntness, determination was seen as apathy. When Laurel shrank away, Iopah sighed inwardly. The girl wasn't even a Thorn wolf.

She only spared enough time to give one last glance over her shoulder. "Good," She said turning to look back at Laurel, "I'm... I'm not really supposed to be here." Her skin still prickled and she angled her muzzle to peel off the blackberry leaf. A quiet noise made her right ear jerk back sharply. She was still antsy here. "I'm Iopah."

Gesturing broadly in the direction of the orchard, she addressed Laurel again. "Do you mind if we moved this away a bit?" She didn't necessarily wait for a response, instead padding forward once the words left her mouth. She was careful to not veer too closely to Laurel, not wanting to alarm her further. Her tail was held comfortably neutral and her gold eyes flicked lightly on the younger woman. She smelled like a lone wolf, no particular scent clung to her. No wonder Iopah's display had startled her. All at once she became aware of how this would look and, not wanting to discuss why she was somewhere she shouldn't be, she spoke up again to fill the silence. "I haven't been to the Falls in some time. Is there a pack living there now?" The idea didn't bother her. It was far enough away that she felt no competition.

As the cherry trees came into sight her mind settled. It was neutral territory and somewhere she was infinitely more comfortable spending time. No one could fault her for being here.

To her surprise the other had turned with her. At ease now, her pace slowed as they stepped into the shade of the fruit trees. An ear flicked towards Laurel politely. The other woman had weathered Iopah's brisque temper well, the least Io could do was feign an interest in the conversation. The usual platitudes started: 'lovely weather we're having', 'pleased to make your acquaintance', 'hope your day is going well'. Well-meaning, empty phrases. Iopah was preparing to suffer through them. It wasn't that she disliked them, but she never used them. If she didn't mean it, she didn't say it. A benign smile was being plastered onto her jaws, ready to accept the pleasantry.

Laurel abruptly cut-off her sentence. Approvingly, Iopah looked over mid-stride with her dark eyebrows arched. She gave a true smile, the first she'd offered to Laurel. The other woman quickly moved on and Iopah's gold eyes turned back to their surroundings to listen. She brushed past the thick gnarled bark of the cherry trees and stopped at a few places to inspect a scent more thouroughly. Iopah was friends with another talkative wolf, the abundance of words did not phase her. Finally Laurel ended with a question and the creme and gray Barberi raised her head to answer.

"I've never lived near the area, so I don't know much." She shrugged, the gesture shifting the dark grey that hung over her shoulders. "The hunting is good and in over two years I've never scent a pack nearby." Iopah defined her world according to it's relevance to her. She was a hunter and she was territorial, so that was what she remembered of the area. She knew much more about this area, but Laurel had not asked that and it wasn't offered. "A new pack forming is important news, what is your friends name?" Just because the Grove was several days journey away, didn't mean the information wasn't worth anything.

The name was meet with a cocked head. She wasn't familiar with the last name. Though, really, she hadn't expected to recognize it. Iopah was not the most social and wolves here had had a tendency to take aliases. It was of little consequence, the real gem was the potential for a new pack in the area.

She remained silent as Laurel spoke of a pack through the winter, her black lips forming an opinionated line. That issue was too much of a rats nest of an issue for Iopah to make a comment. It was not a simple or easy decision to make. There was inherent risk in placing your trust in a randomly met alpha, as Iopah knew well. Before joining up with the Woodland wolves Iopah had served under a pair of alphas that had just up and left one night. There was another reason for Iopah's hesitation: too many wolves considered it temporary. And, judging from the wording, Iopah believed Laurel was looking for a pack to keep her fed and warm through the winter and then leave come spring. Iopah was not about to allow her pack to become a motel for vagabond wolves, so she just leaned back and said, "This past winter was brutal."

Iopah let the silence stretch a little bit and Laurel hastened to fill it. It was odd for a loner to ask after the oldest family. Not for a lone time had Iopah cared about something like that. So, she simply jumped to the next question, appreciating the logic behind it. "One in the thickets, one in the blackberry canes. In the south there is Willow Ridge and Whisper Caverns. It's good that you check first, you have more since than some.